Iris stared at the mysterious creature, looking at it with disgust and with fear, as she didn't know if she would be able to beat him. The only thing she has noticed is how radical and weak it is compared to the others. Her plan is to create a perfect shield to defend until it gets tired; she has to trust her endurance.
"Is there someone who keeps granting you all these powers?!"
The creature took another sword, looking astonished at Iris; it believed that it was common knowledge.
"Obviously? They need more people, and they need an heir to the throne since the one to marry the king has mysteriously disappeared."
Iris at that moment knew that it was Apatura; she felt fear that they would soon uncover that Apatura is currently undefensive, and she feared that if she let it close to Apatura, they would take her and make her sacrifice go in vain.
Iris began creating her perfect shield, a shield strong enough to resist multiple attacks and be a weapon to attack.
Sensing the influx of power by Iris, the creature quickly lunged at her to end her before it got difficult for it.
Crack
Iris opened her eyes, the breaking of a tree branch causing her to resist as much as possible to create the shield. She lowers her center of gravity, positions her leg to the right side, and, seeing the blade being a step away, jumps out of the way.
Iris gets up and begins evading the many attacks. She leans to one side, jumping while not losing her focus on trying to dodge the many blade attacks.
Iris sees a small opportunity; she drops just in time to evade an attack, which only led to some parts of her hair being cut, and she then lands a liver shot.
The creature gets back, Iris's hand bones break, and her arm swells. The creature stumbles, and she quickly gets into creating her shield. The pain is making it difficult, and her trusting her instinct is making her anxious and making the creation of her shield longer than expected.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Iris opened her eyes, quickly jumping back, but then she noticed an artificial white light illuminating the ground. She looked up, seeing a large clock.
***** **** **** ***
A voice she couldn't decipher apart from a deep tone began speaking. She looked back at the creature, looking annoyed. It clenched its hand and stopped its foot. She looked up and saw a ten-minute timer.
Iris, seeing this, sensed an opportunity. She quickly got back to creating her shield. Being halfway done, she sensed something wrong.
She opens her eyes, the tip of the sword just barely touching her neck; instinctively, she moves back with such speed that her Achilles tendon snaps.
Iris in the ground, filled with pain, stands up, her neck bleeding, the creature looking at her with joy in its eyes, enjoying her suffering.
Iris sees that there is nowhere to run; her last choice is to face it. She, with her shield, half created it. Its size is smaller than an average cat, but its strength surprised Iris; however, it has no offensive qualities.
Iris and the creature both stared at each other, their eyes both knowing what is going to happen next.
Iris and the creature both run towards each other, the creature extending its blade and Iris positioning her shield in front of her.
Bang
Iris sees her shield defend against the attack; seeing this, the creature begins running around Iris and striking. Iris defends with everything she can, ignoring her injured leg, only focused on not dying. She moves to the left, right, and all angles to defend against the increasingly stronger and faster attacks.
Crack
Iris had never felt her life flashing before her eyes until she saw her last hope vanish, leaving her hopeless against any other attack.
The blade is stuck with the shield. Iris falls down, her eyes dilating, her heart racing. She looks up, and there are still two minutes left.
"Ahhh!!!" Iris screamed as she felt the blade enter her leg.
Slash
A gust of wind—then a fragment of light flew like a boomerang.
Iris looks at the hand of the creature on the ground. Blood spilling everywhere, the creature stumbled. It began murmuring, its voice shaking the ground.
Iris had no idea what happened, but she quickly saw another shield cracked in the ground.
"He-he-he-he!!" The creature laughed maniacally, "You got me! However, I will come back, and once I get stronger, you will pay for this!!"
The fog quickly disappeared, leaving Iris to instantly get hit with the wave of pain.
The pain was excruciating and all at once, causing Iris to instantly pass out.
…
I didn't believe that you would actually survive. It really surprised me how much you have improved. Creating two shields is something fantastic. Also, suppressing that much pain is so surprising.
Iris returned to the abyss.
"What happened? Why am I still alive?"
you survived, but now you must confront them.
…
Iris woke up, seeing that she was now covered in snow. Her body is completely unresponsive; she tries to move, but only her eyes move.
Iris' mind went blank; she doesn't feel like fighting for something that was bestowed upon her. The ideas that revenge would truly be the purpose of her life were becoming more and more depressing to her.
Would I even feel something after achieving her revenge? Am I really the person to take down evil? What is evil? Who am I to decide anything? I can't even protect myself; every time I nearly die!
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
Iris sees how in an instant the sun is again up; the sounds of chirping birds felt heavy on her chest. She feels that everything she knew about herself changed more than she expected. It really hurt her how those thoughts entered her mind. It made her heart ache thinking about betraying her parents, but she still believes she can't.
The different smells and sounds of animals hurt her; it rained heavily in her subconscious. She knows how beautiful and cruel nature is; she knows that there will be times of sadness and happiness, but she can't make herself believe that it will be over. The fight unlocked something hiding inside of her, an emotion she suppressed for so long.